When to Plant Bok Choi in Watertown, SD

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when you can plant bok choi is to refer to the USDA zone info for Watertown.


Planting Calendar for Bok Choi

Frost tolerance for bok choi: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Bok Choi can survive in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bok choi
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bok choi
Probably not a good time to plant bok choi

The earliest that you can plant bok choi in Watertown is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bok choi and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bok choi may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your bok choi indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Watertown. You should expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Watertown is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Watertown last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to cover your bok choi if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watertown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Watertown

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Watertown.